FREAKY AD MOMENTS OF 2007, Vote #7: Gay ‘Last Supper,’ dog butts, pretzel girl

Freakiest Advertising Moment of 2007: Round 1, Vote 7.
  See all previous votes here.
  Here’s the 64-team bracket.

  Here are contenders 25 through 28.
  25. San Francisco’s gay Last Supper ad. The Folsom Street Fair came up with a new take on Da Vinci’s The Last Supper, replete with lots of muscles and lots of S&M gear.
  26. Method’s clean-floor sex romp. This banner ad for a floor cleaner showed the sexual advantages of doing the housework properly.
  27. Stanley Steemer dog-butt scuttle. Itchy dog butt gone and messed up you nice clean rug? Stanley Steemer to the rescue.
  28. Auntie Anne’s pretzel girl. The pretzel company finds a sad yet hopeful contortionist to sell its grub.
  Vote below for the freakiest of the four. Voting goes until 11 p.m. EST Tuesday night, and the winner advances to Round 2.
  UPDATE: The dog butt skids into Round 2 with the win. See the voting results here.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

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FREAKY AD MOMENTS OF 2007, Vote #6: ‘Nip/Tuck’ calls, lost ears, clogged toilets

Freakiest Advertising Moment of 2007: Round 1, Vote 6.
  See all previous votes here.
  Here’s the 64-team bracket.

  Here are contenders 21 through 24.
  21. Nip/Tuck freak-out-a-friend. The FX show put a nasty little twist on the “Send a personalized message” marketing gimmick, helping people tell their friends and family that they need some work done.
  22. MTV Tr3s's missing-ear spots. Guys who don’t listen to MTV saw their ears fall off in “Use them or lose them” ads.
  23. Scott’s cloggiest moments. Great idea for a contest: Have people describe just how they clogged up their toilet.
  24. Crest’s puppet spots. Puppets scare people. Even when they share their smiles, as one wooden puppet did in this ad. 
  Vote below for the freakiest of the four. Voting goes until 11 p.m. EST Tuesday night, and the winner advances to Round 2.
  UPDATE: After being stuck in second place all day, Scott’s cloggiest moments pull out the win and proceeds to Round 2. See the voting results here.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

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FREAKY AD MOMENTS OF 2007, Vote #5: Bedside shotguns, bunnies, fake orgasms

Freakiest Advertising Moment of 2007: Round 1, Vote 5.
  See all previous votes here.
  Here’s the 64-team bracket.

  Here are contenders 17 through 20.
  17. The Back-Up bedside gun rack. Who wouldn’t want the peace of mind that comes with a bedside gun rack, for easy access to your shotgun while sleeping. An instant-classic ad.
  18. DQ’s amorous desserts. Mr. Waffle and Ms. Soft Serve did everything but actually have intercourse in this set of “Made for each other” commercials.
  19. Farmers Insurance’s bunny ad. The Donnie Darko of insurance spots. So deeply weird, in fact, that no trace remains of this commercial online. Oh well. Trust us, it was freaky. UPDATE: Here it is.
  20. E-jeweler’s simulated sex. The fake orgasm stepped out of hair-care commercials and into the jewelry category.
  Vote below for the freakiest of the four. Voting goes until 11 p.m. EST Tuesday night, and the winner advances to Round 2.
  UPDATE: The Back-Up blows away the competiton and advances to the next round. See the voting results here.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

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FREAKY AD MOMENTS OF 2007, Vote #4: Strippers, forced sex, general nakedness

Freakiest Advertising Moment of 2007: Round 1, Vote 4.
  See all previous votes here.
  Here’s the 64-team bracket.

  Here are contenders 13 through 16.
  13. DirecTV’s naked Burt Reynolds. DirecTV dug up a 1972 photo of a naked Burt Reynolds for an ad that read, “Everything should be seen in DirecTV HD. Well, maybe not everything.”
  14. Steve-O’s naked PETA ad. Jackass’s Steve-O, who’d rather go naked than do anything, joined PETA’s “I’d rather go naked than wear fur” campaign.
  15. Dolce & Gabbana’s rape ad. D&G came in for plenty of criticism for this scene of subjugation. Stefano Gabbana said he didn’t see the big deal.
  16. Gatwick’s huge pole dancer. Those arriving at England’s Gatwick Airport got an eyeful from a giant ad in a nearby field promoting an explicit Web site.
  Vote below for the freakiest of the four. The top vote-getter at 11 p.m. Monday night advances to Round 2.
  UPDATE: Burt Reynolds runs naked, screaming into Round 2. See the voting results here.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

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FREAKY AD MOMENTS OF 2007, Vote #3: Missing jaws, zapped dogs, nicotene cream

Freakiest Advertising Moment of 2007: Round 1, Vote 3.
  See all previous votes here.
  Here’s the 64-team bracket.

  Here are contenders 9 through 12.
  9. France’s hourglass AIDS spot. Human bodies pile up inside a giant hourglass in this chilling AIDS awareness commercial from France.
  10. Canada’s Lost Jaw anti-dip ads. It doesn’t get much more jaw-dropping than this campaign against chewing tobacco.
  11. Dodge’s dog-killing viral. A curious pooch gets mercilessly jolted and fried by a Dodge Nitro in this mean-spirited viral from Europe.
  12. EU’s nicotene cream. Also from Europe, this anti-smoking effort featured disgusting mock products, like a nicotene face cream for that perfect ashen look.
  Vote below for the freakiest of the four. The top vote-getter at 11 p.m. Monday night advances to Round 2.
  UPDATE: The missing-jaw campaign attempts to talk trash, wins this round easily. See the voting results here.

  —Posted by Tim Nudd

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FREAKY AD MOMENTS OF 2007, Vote #2: Jealous babies, anorexia, Bruce Campbell

Freakiest Advertising Moment of 2007: Round 1, Vote 2.
  See all previous votes here.
  Here’s the 64-team bracket.

  Here are contenders 5 through 8.
  5. Schick’s baby/father showdown. It’s a fight to the death between a baby and his smooth-skinned father in this French Schick spot.
  6. Toyota’s Book of Deviants. You’re encourage to chase down a band of dreary sheep-people, known as Sheeple, and “collect their blood” in this Scion campaign.
  7. Italy’s anti-anorexia ads. Isabelle Caro, an anorexic French woman, bared all 65 pounds of herself in this controversial Italian awareness effort.
  8. Old Spice’s Bruce Campbell spots. Campbell the Great channeled Duran Duran in this commercial, from a series he did for Old Spice.
  Vote below for the freakiest of the four. The top vote-getter at 11 p.m. Monday night advances to Round 2.
  UPDATE: The anti-anorexia ads eat the other guys for lunch and advance to Round 2. See the voting results here.

  —Posted by Tim Nudd

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FREAKY AD MOMENTS OF 2007, Vote #1: Orville Deadenbacher to French bestiality

Freakiest Advertising Moment of 2007: Round 1, Vote 1.
  See all votes here.
  Here’s the 64-team bracket.

  Here are contenders 1 through 4.
  1. Orville Deadenbacher. The popcorn king died in 1995, but returned from the dead to his company’s commercials this year, thanks to digital technology.
  2. Severed-arms DVD promo. A Dutch agency promoted Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof on DVD by scattering severed arms on sidewalks in Amsterdam.
  3. NZ Yellow Pages’ tarantula hands. Disembodied hands scurried around like spiders in this Yellow Pages commercial out of New Zealand.
  4. France’s bestial anti-smoking ads. When you smoke, you smell like a goat. And you may kiss like one, too, according to this French anti-smoking campaign.
  Vote below for the freakiest of the four. The top vote-getter at 11 p.m. Monday night advances to Round 2.
  UPDATE: Orville Deadenbacher creaks into Round 2. See the voting results here.

  —Posted by Tim Nudd

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FREAKIEST ADVERTISING MOMENT OF 2007: Pick a winner in our year-end tournament

Popcorn kings back from the dead. Insane little lads obsessed with berries and cream. Car drivers eating bird poo. Milked men. There was no shortage of freaky ad moments in 2007. Now, we’re going to try to pick the single freakiest one — with your help. We’ve gone back through all the stories we posted this year, selected what we think are the 64 most freaky (in a good way or not-so-good way), and thrown them into a March Madness- style bracket. Beginning next week, we’ll hold votes, round by round, until a single winner is left standing — bruised, bloodied, yet resplendent in its utter freakishness. We might even have a little something special for the winning agency. So drop by next week, when the games begin.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

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